‘Two full days? And he didn’t really need to be back until Thursday?’ Mattias had expected Mats to be around for a day or maybe a day and a half but starting out with a minimum two days was more than he could have hoped for. Even before Mats and Mattias had been involved in anything romantic, the two had hit it off well. They had been workout partners, study partners, just good friends. Having been almost two years since the pair had gotten together, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to get back to all the things they had done when they were still in school—well, maybe not all of the things.

As Mats said he would like some of the tea, Mattias was about to reach into his robes and produce his wand. A lazy flick and he could have taken care of getting the water into the pot, boiling it, and pouring the tea all from a seat at the table. But just as he was about to do so, he stopped. Instead Mattias went over to the cabinet, found the pot, filled it, and put it to boil before finding the tea bags. He did it all in the “Muggle fashion” that his Gregor would never have even bothered considering. Mattias knew Mats was living back in the Muggle world and while he had no reasons to prove himself or to think that Mats would think any differently of him either way (or even notice), Mattias felt like doing things the “hard way” for once.

After just a few minutes, the water was ready, poured into two mugs, and Mattias added the bags to steep. Pulling out a chair for himself, he set one across from the seat he had chosen, an offer for Mats to sit, and put one in front of his own chair. Again, this would have been simpler with magic, but again Mattias decided against it. There was something refreshing about it, kind of. As long as he didn’t keep himself at it for too long that is. When he sat, Mats dropped the bomb. As he did, Mattias instinctively reached out and put his hand on Mats’. He didn’t even realize he had done it until it was already there in an attempt to assure and comfort. Awkwardly, he pulled back. “Mats, I am so sorry…I know you said it was amicable, but that still can’t have been easy. I remember, back in school, our breakup was amicable, but that didn’t make it any easier, at least not for me…” There was a bit of a compassionate sadness in Mattias’ voice. He could truly feel how Mats, and probably this Nikon too, felt. Losing out on the companionship, the physicality, the affection, it wasn’t easy.

As Mats continued, Mattias couldn’t help but smile reflexively. “You, here for a pep talk? I wouldn’t have expected that. A rebound, maybe, but not a pep talk.” He didn’t want to make things too light after just hearing that he had broken up with his boyfriend, but it was hard not to. It was hard not to fall back into the school friends (or maybe a bit more) phase with him. He would do his best to respect that things were different though. He was glad to catch up, to spend time together, to be back in touch, but he needed to find and strike a balance too.

“Alright,” he continued, “fair enough. You are here to catch up, to reconnect, to do al that, sounds good to me. We’re already off to quite the start…I mean I don’t have anything half that interesting to tell you about. But what we can do is finish our tea and then head over to the lake a little ways from here. It’s mostly out of the regular path of the herd and it would give us a chance at catching up. Assuming you are still down for a little friendly competition…” he smirked with a raised eyebrow. If there was one thing about Mats Mattias knew wouldn’t change it was that he was as competitive as could be. That and that he loved a good workout. The lake would be a good chance for both. And afterward they could carry on their conversation in the lake, on the shore, wherever they wanted. It would be nice to be out, in the reservation without having to be working. Using the safest places on the out there for something other than a contingency when the dragons were acting up would be good. He hadn’t done much besides work for the last several months, this was exactly what the doctor ordered.

next morning

For once, the light of the morning wasn’t a harsh messenger—it filtered in through the translucent curtains fluttering minutely over her sliding glass doors with a different kind of energy. Something akin to trepidation, maybe, or fantasy, or both, appeared in her mind when she opened her eyes.

Kate blinked three times and then made a quarter turn in the bed, noticing immediately that he was next to her, breathing deeply, sound asleep. His arm was coiled loosely around her and his palm was facing up toward the ceiling, fingers curled halfway and relaxed. She felt overwhelmed with emotions that hadn’t paid a real visit in years, and realized as she settled into consciousness that the night before hadn’t been a dream. If the subsequent relief washing over her made her a bad person, she’d accept those charges.

She turned again to lie on her stomach and peeled the blanket back away from them, noting that in their exhaustion they’d barely moved a muscle during the night. The corners of her mouth twitched. Kate was tempted to watch him sleep for as long as she could, but another motivation overpowered this one. She held her breath hostage and used one palm, pressed into the mattress, to hoist herself parallel over his sleeping form, settling down on top of it.

He wasn’t very disturbed by her careful rearrangement—the only sign of stirring she noticed was a brief little frown that flickered and smoothed again after a moment. Kate exhaled, finally, perhaps feeling too pleased with herself for this small success, and pushed some hair away from his forehead, using his shoulder with her other hand for balance.

It wasn’t hard for Kate to understand why others had no conception of their relationship or why it had taken off the way it had, but as she sat there and watched him turn himself inside out just to get up to the counter and pay for their food, she was reminded. There were a small handful of people on earth who remembered this Charlie, and if she had to guess further, even fewer who had seen him in other private ways she could recall at any moment’s notice. The minutiae of love were the easiest to feel, and the hardest to forget.

Her eyes darted to note the sausage roll he’d purchased for himself when he sat back down and she pressed her lips together to smother a smile. He’d always known she was a bit weird with food. They were picky in their own different ways. She’d never minded indulging those quirks, and she knew that most times, he’d rather have suffered through something to get her to eat—maybe that was part of the reason she always felt so compelled to cook for him(whatever he wanted), or to learn how to make his favorite dishes. She couldn’t, in good conscience, let him martyr himself every time where food was concerned.

Kate picked the bagel up gingerly first, taking a bite that nearly fell right back out of her mouth when he asked her if she still went there. What did he think, that she was keeping it for vacation rental purposes alone? If that were the case, she could have sold it and bought something with far less painful, sentimental value. She chewed slowly as she pondered.

“Yeah, I still go,” She answered thickly, and took another (smaller) nibble. “Usually, you know… when I want to go and see mom and dad. Or when I’ve got a client down there, or when dad needs help with an event, you know.” Her shoulders rolled into a noncommittal shrug. Nothing about this discussion was casual, but she felt like acting like it was would make it less impenetrable. “Sometimes I feel split in two.”

Harlan had never been one for verbal therapy. There were other ways to navigate feelings, he thought, and most were inherently physical.

But this, it felt different.

It felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest and then pushed harder against it. It fought with the place where he could catch his breath. He was distracted by the familiar scrunch of Honey's nose, so much so that he nearly missed what she had replied: that she wished it had been, the right time.

Well that certainly threw a fucking spanner in the works.

His head tilted, but only for a moment before Honey spoke again. Harlan straightened up and his eyes bore forward, seemingly in deep thought. "Sorry, did you just..." Eventually he spoke, catching her eye only at the pause of the question. He broke into a grin. He could count on one hand the amount of times he'd heard that phrase from her mouth: he was right.

"What was that you said?" He teased, turning to face her more squarely again, his leg pressed more firmly against hers without the hesitation he practiced moments before. "That I was...?" It was clear he just wanted her to say it again. Without thought the backs of his fingers touched her side. "...what was that again?" He watched expectantly.